Celebrating “Stay UMC”

I’m celebrating the new home of a very special prayer kneeler in a new UMC! 

It was originally placed in memory of my grandmother. It was for the UMC I served as founding pastor many years ago. 

Later in history, the church renovated and no longer needed it. Eventually, they gave it back to me. I’m so incredibly grateful.

In celebration of the Stay UMC movement, I have “regifted” it to another United Methodist Church. May it bring a prayerful spirit to the people of the newly formed All Saints UMC in Trussville, Alabama! May it strengthen them and give them good courage. We are praying for you!

The GMC Incites Deaths in Nigeria

Really? I guess this constitutes the first set of “GMC incited” deaths. Three United Methodists were killed in Nigeria as a result of GMC violence.

“We further urge GMC members, at all levels, to put an immediate end to the violence and refrain from disseminating misinformation that fuels fear and disdain that can lead to violence. Likewise, we call our United Methodist members to be guided by integrity and respectful while working towards maintaining peace.”

“The Global Methodist Church leaders are concerned about their future as The United Methodist Church in Nigeria continues to make steady progress. He noted that the majority of United Methodist laity and clergy stayed with the denomination.”

To read about it, see this ARTICLE.

I have always, I remain, and I will always STAY UMC.

My Twelve Convictions as the UMC Moves Forward

As I pray and continue to find healing and perspective after last year's season of church disaffiliations from the main body of the UMC, on a recent retreat I wrote down these twelve convictions. What would yours be?

My Twelve Convictions

1. Ministry is messy because relationships are messy. It’s by grace that we are saved! I love church because it’s the gift God gave us to bring people to Christ. So I embrace the messiness with joy. I choose the Jesus way and work things out in love.

2. As I said in my book, “the arc of Christian history bends toward inclusion.” Christianity, since the early church, has reformed itself over and over to come back to this gospel value. Here we are again. Reform is painful but it’s necessary to meet the times.

3. My personal views were changed by decades of ministry with LGBTQ+ Christians, in and beyond my local church. The idea that you can’t be gay and be Christian is bogus. I know too many that are. Their witness formed me over time. I have experienced the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 in slow motion.

4. I don’t worship Wesley. But I find the Wesleyan way an unparalleled, balanced, and passionate expression of biblical Christianity. Wesley’s sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation” and our core doctrines in the Discipline spell it out. I just love being a mainline United Methodist. I believe the holiness tradition the separatists claim is a derivative of Wesleyan spirituality. I don’t believe we can arrive at a sinless life. I choose to be overwhelmed by grace!

5. It’s clear from Wesley’s writings, especially “On Schism” and “The Catholic Spirit,” that he would be mortified by how the separatist leadership has functioned over the last ten years. The secessionists caused the schism, not the people they demonized.

6. The initial concerns were valid … how do we move forward in light of dramatic changes in our culture? But the WCA formed in 2016 to openly plan schism. They overturned the One Church Plan presented by the Commission on a Way Forward in 2019, though they knew they would probably leave anyway. They also knew full and well that the Traditional Plan was not sustainable, so I have concluded that it was never intended for unity. It was to say “either they’re leaving, or we’re leaving.” I saw this from the beginning and protested. It turns out they followed through with their end game.

7. The separatists did not leave the UMC for theological or biblical reasons. They left for sociological reasons, rooted in American culture wars and ideological politics. They simply made justification for it using the Bible and theology. This exposed the underbelly of American religious history, as such movements have done in the past. I love our religious freedom because it leads more people to Christ, but this experience has shown me this is the biggest pitfall.

8. Diversity, not division, is a sign of the Holy Spirit. Unity has never been the same thing as uniformity. Wesley coined the phrase “agree to disagree” because he strove for perfection in love. Love is what matters. Love wins.

9. The gospels never even mention the hot button topics that separatists left over. But the gospels definitely teach about unity. Jesus prays for it for a whole chapter in John, noting that our unity comes from abiding in him (not agreeing on everything).

10. Yet here we are, and those who left us are our siblings in Christ who we must now love, just as we love people of other denominations. This will involve forgiveness and healing. I am on a journey of opening my heart.

11. The communion table is the gift Christ gave us to bring unity in our diversity. It’s not just about me and Jesus. It’s about the kingdom of God. We need to come back to the table in order to move forward. This message is the gift I brought to the larger discussion, for such a time as this.

12. The UMC can now robustly stand for the positive biblical value of unity in diversity, over against the divisiveness of our culture. We are unhindered by the divisions of the past and can truly embrace the vision of open minds, open hearts, and open doors. We can grow by bringing all kinds of people into vibrant relationship with Christ and a life of being immersed in grace. I’m excited about our future.

Making My Book Available for Discount

To celebrate a historic General Conference and uplifting Annual Conference, I’ve made my book available for a discount. Amazon and Wipf & Stock have it for $21. I’ll send you a copy for only $15 (with free shipping).

Just EMAIL ME or PRIVATE MESSAGE ME on Facebook with your address! I’ll send it with an invoice and you can pay me later.

If you really want to know why I was active in creating the “Stay UMC” movement, this book is about why.

Adam Ployd, professor and theologian at Wesley House in Cambridge, said, “This book is not so much a work of pure scholarship—though the author has clearly done his homework on the topic of Wesley and communion—as it is an exhortative reflection on the ways in which a robust Wesleyan vision of communion should shape the future of United Methodism. West sees a central problem at the heart of the crisis facing The United Methodist Church: it is being divided by political culture wars that threaten the integrity of the Body of Christ and the radical community it is called to be. The sacrament of Holy Communion, he believes, holds the theological and practical key to renewing the Body and cultivating community in a way that can allow the church to move forward in pious, charitable unity …

“Although West is writing for a popular audience— educated laity and clergy alike—this is an erudite book. West incorporates historical voices, from the earliest generations of Christians to the English Nonjurors and, of course, the Wesleys themselves, in order to educate his reader in some fairly nuanced theological ideas. He does so nimbly, demonstrating both his knowledge of the subject matter and his ability to communicate that knowledge with unusual clarity. Indeed, this is a book to be recommended to all United Methodists struggling with the current crisis who desire a rich, reliable theological resource for thinking about things in a way that transcends the surface-level issues.”

See the link Something Happens Here for more information.

Presentation on Staying in the UMC

I have been a spokesperson for staying UMC in this season when some have been discerning whether to secede from our denomination or remain in the main body. Each presentation has been tailored to a local situation.

Now that I have finished the last speaking engagement on my calendar, I feel compelled to share my most recent presentation with you here.

I’m passionate about the future of the UMC and believe we have great days ahead, pulling together and focusing on making disciples of Christ after this schism. I stand firmly against the wealth of misinformation that has been spread by separatists, and this presentation includes some of my  “Methodist mythbusting.”

If all you’ve heard is a separatist presentation, you have not opened yourself to a complete picture. Factual information from your pastor, conference, and bishop isn’t the “other side” but the common ground from which multiple sides should be considered.

I hope this offers a clear, compelling alternative to the separatist point of view. Some highlights are:

• The distinction between traditional “compatibalists” and “incompatibalists”
• Essential Wesleyan spirituality
• Addressing MYTHS such as the ideas that UMC beliefs are going to dramatically change, extreme examples represent the whole,  we are all going to take a “hard left,” and that leaving is a “good business deal.”
• A vision for being a traditional church in a diverse denomination
• Choosing unity over conformity and uniformity

Feel free to share it.

Featured in the Sewanee Theolog Gazette

I'm honored that the new book was featured in the Sewanee Theolog Gazette this month. You can find the August 2022 issue here with reference to the book under the section entitled "Notable."

Here is an excerpt from the book that shares an experience I had on campus.

EXCERPT - "Something Happens Here" by Stephen P. West

For four years, I spent three weeks of summer intensives at the beautiful campus of Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee, which I affectionately call “Hogwarts on the mountain.” By the third year, I was close to completing the twenty-mile Perimeter Trail around the crest of the mountain. The language of finding a “way forward” had become common in Methodist leadership circles, since we were approaching a called General Conference that was supposed to find some level of resolve over the deepening divide regarding matters of human sexuality. This annual trek was becoming a prayer walk, as I became intentional to pray about the “way forward” as I walked this path. One afternoon after class, I found myself taking a break from my routine hike to check out a natural bridge I had heard about on another part of the campus.

As I walked down the hill to look over this bridge that had developed purely out of divine initiative, I was whisked away into a mystical experience. I climbed to the top of the bridge and crossed over, pondering the concept of finding a “way forward.” Jesus called himself the “way.” He did not say he would show us the way, or tell us about the path, or send us on our journey, but that he is the way. I don’t believe he said this to be exclusive, as it is often interpreted. I believe he said this to remind us that following him is a journey, and the wisdom of God is a path that will take us to new places and new spaces. Christianity is not a list of rules to follow or a set of doctrines to swallow but a relationship with the divine one who is fully embodied in the person of Christ Jesus. We did not need to build a bridge to provide a way forward. It is a gift given to us in Christ. After all, before Christians were called Christians, the movement was simply called “the Way.”

Just as he began his disciples’ journey with the call to “follow me” (Matt 4:19, italics added), he intentionally prepared them for the completion of his earthly life with a meal invitation to “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19, italics added). As I have said, it is not a call to simply remember a meal, a liturgy, or a lesson on the meaning of the cross but to reexperience me . . . all of me. The invitation at the table completes what could be seen as a two-part calling of the disciples. Life at the table takes us much deeper into the heart of what it means to truly follow. On that natural bridge, I determined that no matter what, wherever this path took me, I would choose the way of Christ. How Christ behaved toward others is the best lens through which we interpret Scripture, even his own words. Christian spirituality is embodied spirituality, and in Christ, the “fullness of deity dwells bodily.”  Jesus offered the invitation at the table when he knew the time was coming soon when he was no longer going to walk on earth. We were to become the hands and feet of Christ.

Author Interview by United Methodist Insight

 

I was so honored with an author interview by Cynthia Astle of United Methodist Insight.

It's entitled "'Musical Preacher' Pens Book on Communion as Way to UMC Unity" and it can be found here.

This United Methodist Insight exclusive begins with these words:

"In these days of church turmoil, it may be hard to find someone more in love with the blessings of Methodist heritage than the Rev. Dr. Stephen P. West. That's a good thing, because out of his service as a pastor, his affinity to Charles Wesley's hymns and his doctoral project he has written a book about the heart of Methodism - the sacrament of Holy Communion."

Again, you can find the book on Amazon or Wipf & Stock.

What Would Wesley Say About Leaving the UMC?

“There are those who seem to think they will make the church purer and holier by limiting it to a specific set of legislated opinions.”

ST Kimbrough Jr., renowned Wesley scholar from North Alabama (retired Associate General Secretary for Mission Evangelism for the General Board of Global Ministry), asks what Wesley would say about the splintering minority from the UMC going into the GMC (organizing on May 1) or other offshoot denominations.

What a timely release. Read it at www.stayumc.org.

#stayumc

#BeUMC